The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), originally the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), has been the unchallenged political force in Telangana since the state was formed in 2014. Its unquestioned dominance in the state emboldened its leader, K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) to stay equidistant from both the NDA and INDIA blocs and explore a third space for the BRS nationally. The party’s decision to drop Telangana from its name and opt for Bharat was part of its rebranding. However, the last few months have seen a dip in the party’s prospects, with the Congress, enthused by its Karnataka win, challenging its narrative in the state. Recently, the Congress held a rally in Hyderabad and promised six guarantees, all welfare initiatives, if voted to office.
The BRS manifesto, released on Sunday, is full of promises too. Its welfare basket has financial assistance ( ₹3,000 per month) for poor women, subsidised LPG cylinders, free life insurance for nearly 10 million poor families, a substantial increase in financial support to farmers, housing for the poor, new residential schools for children from poor families and other such. This is not surprising. Right from its inception, KCR had positioned the TRS as a welfarist party with a regional character. KCR’s role in securing the Telangana state allowed the TRS an early advantage that no other party could claim, but that the agenda has run its course and the party is now facing the heat of anti-incumbency and corruption. And even welfarism per se may no longer be a sufficient plank to sail through in elections. As aspirations grow, parties are being forced to make the welfare basket bigger — and it no longer guarantees electoral success.
The logic of electoral politics in many southern states has now become welfare-plus. Tamil Nadu has been a pioneer in this. Both the DMK and the AIADMK have competed to spread the social security net, offering rations and subsidised essential and non-essential goods to a large section of the population unmindful of the fiscal implications. But voters, aware that both sides believe in sops, have been scrupulous in punishing misgovernance, just like they did earlier this year in Karnataka (where too, manifestos were heavy on welfare initiatives). If a similar trend plays out in Telangana, the BRS will not have it easy.
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